117 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
'''As We See It '''is a 1967 leaflet written by [Chris
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Pallis](Chris_Pallis "wikilink") and published by
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[Solidarity](Solidarity_\(UK\) "wikilink"). It is brief plan of action
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for creating a socialist society.
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## Transcript
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1\. Throughout the world the vast majority of people have no control
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whatsoever over the decisions that most deeply and directly affect their
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lives. They sell their labour power while others who own or control the
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means of production accumulate wealth, make the laws and use the whole
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machinery of the [State](State_\(Polity\) "wikilink") to perpetuate and
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reinforce their privileged positions.
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2\. During the past century the living standards of working people have
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improved. But neither these improved living standards, nor the
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nationalization of the means of production, nor the coming to power of
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parties claiming to represent the working class have basically altered
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the status of the worker. Nor have they given the bulk of mankind much
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freedom outside of production. East and West, capitalism remains an
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inhuman type of society where the vast majority are bossed at work and
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manipulated in consumption and leisure. Propaganda and policemen,
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prisons and schools, traditional values and traditional morality all
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serve to reinforce the power of the few and to convince or coerce the
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many into acceptance of a brutal, degrading and irrational system. The
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"Communist" world is not communist and the "Free" world is not free.
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3\. The trade unions and the traditional parties of the left started in
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business to change all this. But they have come to terms with the
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existing patterns of exploitation. In fact they are now essential if
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exploiting society is to continue working smoothly. The unions act as
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middlemen in the labour market. The political parties use the struggles
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and aspirations of the working class for their own ends. The
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degeneration of working class organizations, itself the result of the
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failure of the revolutionary movement, has been a major factor in
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creating working class apathy, which in turn has led to further
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degeneration of both parties and unions.
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4\. The trade unions and political parties cannot be reformed,
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"captured", or converted into instruments of working class emancipation.
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We don't call however for the proclamation of new unions, which in the
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conditions of today would suffer a similar fate to the old ones. Nor do
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we call for militants to tear up their union cards. Our aims are simply
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that the workers themselves should decide on the objectives of their
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struggles and that the control and organization of these struggles
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should remain firmly in their own hands. The *forms* which this
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self-activity of the working class may take will vary considerably from
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country to country and from industry to industry. Its basic *content*
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will not.
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5\. Socialism is not just the [common ownership](Commons "wikilink") and
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control of the means of production and distribution. It means equality,
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real freedom, reciprocal recognition and a radical transformation in all
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human relations. It is man's understanding of his environment and of
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himself, his domination over his work and over such social institutions
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as he may need to create. These are not secondary aspects, which will
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automatically follow the expropriation of the ruling class. On the
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contrary they are essential parts of the whole process of social
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transformation, for without them no genuine social transformation will
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have taken place.
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6\. A socialist society can therefore only be built from below.
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Decisions concerning production and work will be taken by Workers'
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Councils composed of elected and revocable delegates. Decisions in other
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areas will be taken on the basis of the widest possible discussion and
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consultation among the people as a whole. This democratization of
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society down to its very roots is what we mean by "workers' power".
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7\. *Meaningful action*, for revolutionaries, is whatever increases the
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confidence the autonomy, the initiative, the participation, the
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solidarity, the equalitarian tendencies and the self-activity of the
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masses and whatever assists in their demystification. *Sterile and
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harmful action* is whatever reinforces the passivity of the masses,
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their apathy, their cynicism, their differentiation through hierarchy,
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their alienation, their reliance on others to do things for them and the
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degree to which they can therefore be manipulated by others - even by
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those allegedly acting on their behalf.
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8\. No ruling class in history has ever relinquished its power without a
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struggle and our present rulers are unlikely to be an exception. Power
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will only be taken from them through the conscious, autonomous action of
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the vast majority of the people themselves. The building of socialism
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will require mass understanding and mass participation. By their rigid
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hierarchical structure, by their ideas and by their activities, both
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social-democratic and Bolshevik types of organizations discourage this
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kind of understanding and prevent this kind of participation. The idea
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that socialism can somehow be achieved by an elite party (however
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"revolutionary") acting "on behalf of the working class is both absurd
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and reactionary.
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9\. We do not accept the view that by itself the working class can only
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achieve a trade union consciousness. On the contrary we believe that its
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conditions of life and its experiences in production constantly drive
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the working class to adopt priorities and values and to find methods of
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organization which challenge the established social order and
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established pattern of thought. These responses are implicitly
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socialist. On the other hand, the working class is fragmented,
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dispossessed of the means of communication, and its various sections are
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at different levels of awareness and consciousness. The task of the
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revolutionary organization is to help give proletarian consciousness an
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explicitly socialist content, to give practical assistance to workers in
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struggle, and to help those in different areas to exchange experiences
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and link up with one another.
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10\. We do not see ourselves as yet another leadership, but merely as an
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instrument of working class action. The function of *Solidarity* is to
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help all those who are in conflict with the present authoritarian social
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structure, both in industry and in society at large, to generalize their
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experience, to make a total critique of their condition and of its
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causes, and to develop the mass revolutionary consciousness necessary if
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society is to be totally transformed.
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## External Links
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- [As We See
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It](https://www.marxists.org/archive/brinton/1967/04/as-we-see-it.htm)
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at marxists.org |